The Good Nurse

Jessica Chastain is Amy, a nurse working the hectic nightshifts at her local hospital whilst trying to bring up her two children and combat a pernicious heart defect that requires surgery - a surgery she can ill afford. The pressure looks set ease a little when she is introduced to a new arrival. He, Charlie, (Eddie Redmayne) is a sympathetic and engaging man with whom she gradually begins to build a (platonic) friendship. Suddenly, a patient at their hospital dies and after some feet-dragging, the police become involved in an investigation that rings loads of alarm bells. It soon becomes clear that this death is but the latest in a series of mysteriously unexplained incidents and that, perhaps, Charlie might be more involved that his friendly demeanour might suggest. It's based on a true story, so there's no jeopardy as to who did what, when and where. The film is basically a two-hander with the pair delivering competent characterisations of the two nurses. Redmayne has less to do until the ending, and there he rather hams it up a bit. Chastain has more of the game and plays her role a little more characterfully but again, the writing isn't really very good and the pace of thing is all but glacial. It has a documentary feel to it at times with a score that does little to enhance the overall lacklustre production. Interesting story, but the film is nothing at all to write home about.